Parallel Parking
by LA1
Summary: Coda to the episode Drive. Ahhhh, weddings! A time when families gather, love is in the air, and sparks FLY! Why should Voyager be any different?


Disclaimer: In the words of Robert Picardo, ".And since Viacom owns all that Paramount owns, Viacom owns me." Or at least these characters, shrug. Also, the song I Finally Found Someone is copyrighted 1996 by SONY Music Entertainment.  
  
Rating: PG, but for silly sexual innuendo. One naughty word, I think.  
  
Summary: P/T Collective Archivist's Challenge to fill in the missing scenes at the conclusion of the episode "Drive". But don't think the story is Tom and B'Elanna's alone! Weddings are a time when families gather, love is in the air, and sparks fly. Will somebody get Uncle Beauford off the chandelier?!  
  
Author's note: As always, thanks go out to my Board Collective for beta and advice on a few sticking points. Thanks, Barb, for the flophouse and the kick in the pants! Thanks, BR, for keeping me humble, *g*!  
  
1 Copyright October 2001, by LA Koehler  
  
  
  
1.1 Parallel Parking  
  
  
  
The shockwave rocked Janeway gratefully out of diplomatic mode. She was annoyed that neither entry that could have brought bragging rights to Voyager had crossed the finish line. The post-race gala was going to lack something now. She was certain, though, that her junior officers would at least have a few nice tall-tales to explain their losses.  
  
"Janeway to bridge, report."  
  
"That was a shock wave from an antimatter explosion, approximately 1.2 million kilometers away from here."  
  
"Excuse me," she broke from O'Zaal with brevity.  
  
Her eyes contacted Chakotay's, and they silently made their way to the turbolift.  
  
=/\= =/\= =/\=  
  
  
  
"Captain," Tuvok's voice came over her comm before she could even exit onto the bridge, "the energy signature of the explosion corresponds to that.of a Starfleet warp core."  
  
She strode from the lift to the Vulcan's station as he finished, then stopped as abruptly as her heart. Mouth falling open in apprehension, she spun to look at Chakotay. He maintained a passive expression, and she drew strength from his example.  
  
Before she could ask the horrifying question, Sarah Jenkins exclaimed from Operations.  
  
"Captain! I have Irina's ship.AND the Delta Flyer on sensors! They are dead in the water - but intact! If that was our warp core, the lieutenants managed to eject it before it blew."  
  
"Hail them!"  
  
Jenkins toggled the channel open, but it was Janeway who impatiently executed her own command. She appeared calm, but her left hand betrayed her true emotions, clenching and unclenching convulsively as she spoke.  
  
"Voyager to Delta Flyer, please respond. Tom? B'Elanna, respond! Harry, please respond!" She gestured to Jenkins. "Keep it up, Ensign."  
  
"Captain, coming within range of Harry's location."  
  
"Beam them to sickbay-Janeway to Doctor; incoming!"  
  
=/\= =/\= =/\=  
  
  
  
Harry had barely materialized before calling out for a security transport to the brig for Irina. As she disappeared again in a shimmering cloud of defiant shock, he contacted the bridge to explain the acts of sabotage, and his own near-demise. Janeway made no comment as the lucky ensign finished up his account and he waited patiently in the momentary silence that ensued.  
  
"She can sit there for now and I'll deal with her-after I find out the status of my other officers that she was so willing to blow up." Her controlled anger scorched through the connection.  
  
"Doctor, Ensign Kim's condition?" she barked out after a cleansing breath.  
  
"So far, so good," came the exasperated reply, "and when things settle down here sufficiently for me to take some reliable scans, I'll file a report with you."  
  
"Captain, I'm fine-"  
  
"There you have it. Why bother consulting me needlessly-" an annoyed undercurrent murmured beneath Harry's declaration.  
  
"-but I'm staying here to help the Doc with Tom and B'Elanna.that is, uh, if they need help," he ended, feeling traitorous for thinking the worst so quickly.  
  
"We're approaching the Delta Flyer's coordinates now," Janeway acceded. "Stand by, you two!"  
  
=/\= =/\= =/\=  
  
  
  
Almost immediately, the air was filled with the whine of transport, and two figures began to coalesce on the floor. They were tangled together, as if they had been tossed violently with the debris in the cockpit.  
  
The two rescuers steeled themselves for the horror the next few minutes would bring - the pain that their triage would cause, before painkillers could take firm hold. The fear that their efforts would fall short for one or both of their friends. The blood chilling sounds of agony.  
  
Except.  
  
.what reached them was the decidedly-make that definitely-heated noises of.of.  
  
Dual jaws hung slackly on their hinges as the.activity.continued without interruption. After a moment's recovery, Harry's features scrunched up, effectively conveying the emotion somewhere between 'mild distaste' and 'wha-th-hell'. Face frozen that way, he ripped his eyes away from the show long enough to slip a sidelong glance to the other unintentional voyeur.  
  
Expecting to see outrage next to him, he was surprised to find a rather neutral-looking mien staring clinically at the amorous couple. With a sigh, the nonplussed EMH looked at the hypospray in his hand and dropped it uselessly to the deck. As it clanked awkwardly he spoke aloud, to no one in particular.  
  
"Well. Looks like it's time for me to declare that medical emergency."  
  
=/\= =/\= =/\=  
  
  
  
Harry hadn't time to contemplate the strange comment because, amid the slurping sounds of attached facial parts and rustling fabrics, there came an even scarier noise through the comm system.  
  
"Doctor, I'm coming down there."  
  
"NO!" Harry and the Doctor roared in unison.  
  
"We, uh, we, uh-need to clean them up a little bit, uh, first, Captain," Harry exclaimed, wincing over his Freudian slip.  
  
"More like 'Hose them down'." the Doctor mumbled quietly, hopefully below the level of comm pick-up, the young man prayed.  
  
"Alright Doctor, it's your call. Keep us well-informed; Janeway out."  
  
"Mm!" Tom suddenly exclaimed as he extracted his lips from B'Elanna's mouth. "Wait, wait! Paris to Janeway!" he yelled to the air, hitting his commbadge as he sat up.  
  
"Oh! It speaks!" the Doctor lilted jauntily to Harry. His humor was wasted - the ensign was a nervous wreck.  
  
"Go ahead, Lieutenant," the curious reply issued from the sickbay systems.  
  
"We do need you, Captain. Now."  
  
B'Elanna also sat up, and was repeatedly shoving Tom's arm. "Chakotay," she said sotto-voce to Tom, "I need Chakotay."  
  
"And Commander Chakotay, please-if it wouldn't be too inconvenient, that is," the helmsman finished, his eyes locked upon the engineer's, savoring their unspoken agreement.  
  
A pause. "I don't think we could resist such an air of mystery now if we tried." They could almost see her face quirk in amusement as she replied, then closed the link. The Doctor had stepped forward during the exchange, his scanner chirping.  
  
"Perhaps I missed the head injury." he addressed Kim exclusively, as the only other coherent person present, in the Doctor's opinion. His theory seemed confirmed when both lieutenants exploded in nervous laughter. Tom rubbed B'Elanna's arms, took a deep breath.  
  
"There's nothing wrong with my head, Doc. In fact," he continued to stare into B'Elanna's naked gaze, "I finally got it screwed on right," he added with conviction. He lowered his voice, addressing B'Elanna alone once again.  
  
"Will here be okay?" he asked tenderly, anticipating their captain's arrival.  
  
"Oh, Tom. Right here, over there-in the mess hall, the brig, the warp core!" she burst out in another quick fit of hearty laughter. "As long as it gets the job done," she finished warmly.  
  
"What's.all this about?" They had not heard the door open.  
  
Janeway was cautiously optimistic as she and her second-in-command entered the curious scene, on the heels of the curious message. On one hand, she had a scuttled shuttle and an alien saboteur in custody. On the other, she had her three officers back, apparently whole...  
  
On the one hand, she could smell the residual gases and singed fabric wafting off the newly transported officers, and on the other, she could hear the laughter floating through the same air.  
  
Strongly warned to wait, then summoned-fairly imperiously-by the same officers from whom she was warned away! She wanted answers but forced herself to wait patiently.  
  
The lieutenants assisted each other up and clutched the other's arms as they faced her, like errant schoolchildren. They were flushed with excitement-from surviving their close call, Janeway presumed. Later, she would analyze the events of that moment and chuckle at how utterly off- guard they had managed to catch her.  
  
Standard operating procedure for those two, she mused. Standard operating procedure.  
  
"Captain!" B'Elanna started, searching for some modicum of protocol to make their request respectfully. "First off, we're fine-"  
  
"Oh, no. No, no, no, we are definitely not fine," Tom interrupted, happily, but emphatically, "see, because.  
  
He paused, looking into their captain's expectant face, and time seemed to slow down around him. He knew this was one of those moments you never, ever forget, and he wanted it to be perfect. He felt the physical warmth of the woman beside him, and the emotional warmth emanating from her was just as palpable. Now that they had "broken through the barrier", made the final emotional investment needed to take the next step in their relationship, it felt like a lightness had suffused him. Now that they had opened up to each other, totally and completely, Tom could no longer imagine living any other way, even for another minute. He drew B'Elanna closer to his side, and himself a little taller.  
  
".well, because we're not joined yet as husband and wife."  
  
Time actually did stop then for the captain of the starship Voyager. She was distantly aware of the soft sound of surprise made by Chakotay beside her. Of Harry's incredulous exclamation, and the Doctor's delightedly warm smile. But her eyes never left the calm, expectant expressions before her.  
  
She had never been able to decide in the privacy of her thoughts if they would mesh seamlessly as a couple, or be their own undoing. But watching them calmly watching her right then, witnessing their conviction.she knew the former had prevailed. Both sets of eyes told her all she needed to know. Contrary to appearances, she knew their request was no snap decision, and saw no need to question their destiny so long in coming.  
  
She stepped forward and hugged them both solidly. For several moments, she held them, remembering so many things, so many things. She knew she should say something, but.  
  
"Help," she choked through her emotion. "Words are failing me right now!"  
  
"What!" Chakotay's yelp broke the tension. "Note that in the logs-that has got to be a Voyager First! Come here, you," he followed into the laughter, honoring Kathryn's request and stealing B'Elanna up into a bear hug. Similar congratulations were offered all around as Janeway stepped back to think and make decisions, once again in her element.  
  
"Let's get the even bigger First underway, shall w-oh my! I've got to scan the database for the proper procedure; I've never done this before! And what format to use." she trailed off, splayed hands thrown up in the air.  
  
"The shortest," the betrothed couple spoke in unison, eliciting more quick laughter.  
  
"I'll give you a hand," Tom added, following her trot to the office desk.  
  
"Oh, no you don't," said Harry, hot on their heels, "we need to talk party arrangements for afterwards, here. It won't plan itself, you know."  
  
"Where did I put that holoimager," the Doctor mumbled, scurrying around his domain.  
  
"Harry, Harry, Harry-of course it will!" Tom placated his friend. "This is Voyager, which in Standard means 'any excuse to break out the contraband'."  
  
When the sound of even Janeway's deep giggle muffled out of the office, B'Elanna and Chakotay finally chuckled. The flurry of activity was worthy of a Borg attack-but with laughter-and the bride-to-be nodded her satisfaction with the rightness of it all. Chakotay caught the subtlety.  
  
"You really are ready, aren't you?"  
  
She glanced at her fiercest protector and smiled. "That's what I love about you, you know? You always look out for me, even if it's to save me from myself. Especially to save me from myself!" Her lilting tone expressed that his services wouldn't be needed this time.  
  
Her conviction was firm, Chakotay was glad. He squeezed her hands in his own for strength.  
  
"I couldn't be happier for you. You deserve this."  
  
B'Elanna's eyes softened and she stared at her friend with a confident intensity. "You know what? I finally do believe that."  
  
Then she grinned.  
  
"Well, Bodyguard, before I officially toss you aside like so much pleeka rind casserole, I have one last request. I asked for you to come down with the captain because...would you please stand with me? Chakotay," she accented his name fully, with respect and love, "would you give me away?" She knew family had always been important to him, when he still had one. In a way, she was all he had left, from before Voyager.  
  
Her heart soared as suddenly as her body when her feet left the deck, snatched up in another fierce hug by the man that circumstance had made her brother.  
  
"I would be honored," was all he could manage into the hair by her ear, and she patted his back comfortingly. She thought he might cry, and she was touched.  
  
=/\= =/\= =/\=  
  
Tom glanced yet again to his right at the face of his commanding officer as she studied the databases they needed on the Doctor's office screens. Behind them, Harry and the Doctor debated the merits and drawbacks of champagne versus seriously spiked punch while Janeway pretended to not hear them.  
  
"Go ahead, say it. The suspense is killing me," he murmured.  
  
"What do you mean?" Janeway turned to him with a quizzical grin.  
  
"Aren't you going to ask me if I'm sure about all this, make certain I'm not having second thoughts, or something," he fumbled out, watching as amusement set the eyes of the petite redhead aglow.  
  
"Check your instincts, Tom; you're way off base on this one," she couldn't help chuckling at the end. "No, I know you both too well, and I saw the looks in your eyes when you asked me." A smile ghosted her face as she again imagined the conviction she had seen on two faces minutes earlier. "And like the rest of the crew, I not only know you're ready, I think you're both seriously overdue!" They shared a chuckle at that.  
  
"Actually," her tone sobered, "I was feeling something I'm not sure I have a right to, and had decided to keep it to myself." She looked back, self- conscious of her admission, to the scrolling screen until she felt warm fingers on her shoulder. She stopped in her task.  
  
"Please, Captain, I.would really like to know what you were thinking," he quietly encouraged her.  
  
"Tom, I." she swallowed. She seemed to struggle with where to begin her train of thoughts, then simply plunged in. She kept her voice low to guard against being overheard.  
  
"I was so harsh with you when I took away your rank after the Moneans," her eyes darted to the computer, pretending to read what was there. "But I felt so betrayed by your behavior then, so afraid of what could have happened. What you forced me to order to happen." She didn't continue, and it wasn't necessary-they both knew the volumes left unsaid.  
  
"For nearly two years I've held my breath, watching your behavior, praying you'd continue to toe the line. It was such a relief when I could finally give you that pip back. But the whole incident made me realize that I've been very vested in your interests, that.I mean, I know that you're a self- made man, Tom, but." she stopped; the words were becoming too tangled. She turned to him with a rueful expression.  
  
"What I'm trying to say, badly," she half-grinned, "is that I'm so proud of you, Tom. I don't have any right to feel that way, but I do, and I want you to know that today, on your wedding day." Tom blushed around his grin.  
  
"Captain, I may be responsible for making the choices that have led me to the happy life I lead today, but none of us do it alone; you know that. I've made good choices because I'm surrounded by people who give a damn about me, people who themselves are worth caring about. And not a little bit of that credit goes to the love a good woman," he purposely clichéd, glancing out the office windows in time to catch Chakotay sweep B'Elanna up in a genuine hug. He smiled.  
  
"Yeah, at first I thought your thirty day punishment sucked," he admitted what she had always suspected. The older woman was surprised, though, that finally hearing the words lifted an ache she had been harboring in her heart instead of adding to it.  
  
"But you know what?" Tom continued. "That time gave me the opportunity to face some major demons from my past," he left his father nameless, "so I could move forward, once and for all. Last month, it wasn't the return of the pip that meant so much to me, Captain. It was the return of your trust that I had broken between us." His head nodded now, firm in his belief. "My bond with B'Elanna has grown stronger all this year, then I regained your good graces." he shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm on some lucky streak." He chucked his head toward the main bay, where the woman he loved waited. "Figured I'd better place the biggest bet of my life while I'm still hot," he winked.  
  
His captain, and his friend, cocked her head, regarding him. Then slowly, slowly, she pulled his neck down to her cheek in an embrace, which he gratefully returned. Their cathartic confessions now made Tom more eager than ever to get on with the celebration that had called them all together in the first place.  
  
"Um, Ma'am, we still need to choose a ceremony," he indicated the screen as they released one another, while Janeway discreetly wiped at unshed tears gathered in her eyes.  
  
"Nope," she said with an upbeat lilt, "I've already found the perfect one."  
  
  
  
=/\= =/\= =/\=  
  
"I've never attended a wedding before," the Doctor enthused to the room in general as they set themselves up. "This is so exciting!" He snapped a candid image happily. Chakotay approached Tom with B'Elanna on his arm, as was his duty, before stepping back into place with the other two witnesses. Janeway began.  
  
"On Stardate 1709.2, James Kirk began a marriage ceremony to unite a young man and woman serving aboard his ship. That joyous occasion was interrupted by a Romulan attack, and when that attack was over one half of that pair lay dead.  
  
"Word of the tragic incident spread, and in its aftermath scores of Starfleet couples since have been united with the same words, spoken by Kirk, to honor and symbolically complete the vows of the doomed couple. I find it amusing and ironic that the both of you-free-spirited, buck-the- trends, involuntarily consigned to Starfleet individuals-should be married in this tradition." Both Tom and B'Elanna blushed over their grins as Chakotay nodded his seconding of the sentiment and Harry elbowed the Doctor in the side.  
  
"But here, on another frontier as imposing and unpredictable as that faced by Kirk and his crew, I can't help but see another young man and woman, dedicated to duty, devoted to the protection of their friends and principles, and very much in love.who reflect the best light of a couple two centuries gone. As unconventional as your relationship is, you still represent the best of the virtues that not only Starfleet exemplifies, but that all sentient people hold dear. And in that light, I would like to proceed." Janeway dipped her head to read the PADD, but not before catching Tom's gentle squeeze on B'Elanna's hand, and her return gesture.  
  
"Since the day of the wooden vessels, all ship masters have had one happy privilege: that of uniting two people in the bonds of matrimony. And so we are gathered here today, with you, B'Elanna Tor-"  
  
The sickbay doors snapped open with a rude hiss as Lieutenant Bill Chapman strode in with a rag around his left hand. He pulled up abruptly, his eyes widening at the elite group gathered there in ceremonial stances. By rote, the Doctor's programming kicked in as he stepped forward.  
  
"Please state the nature of the medical emergency," he directed.  
  
"Oh. Well, um," Chapman bumbled as he redirected his attention away from where his suspicions were leading him, back to the doctor's inquiry. "Um, I.cut my.hand," he waved the limb demonstratively in the air toward the unexpected audience, wondering anew just exactly what he had walked in on. He had a clue, he felt. The doctor unwrapped his hand with little fanfare, seemingly in a hurry to be rid of him, the lieutenant thought.  
  
"Ah! Superficial-wonderful!" The Doctor grabbed a regenerator from his instrument tray and set to work. "We'll just.another pass here and.viola! Good as new! Flex it for me, please.very good. Now, try to be more careful the rest of the day, don't overdo it, see me if it pains you at all later, though it shouldn't. Take care now," he shoved the bewildered man out the door.  
  
"Uh, don't you need to know how I did this," he asked from the corridor, his brow knitted with curiousity.  
  
"I'm sure it will all be in your injury report, which you should go dictate right now," the impatient EMH suggested. The doors snapped shut and he cheerfully returned to place.  
  
"Doctor!" Janeway spoke for them all.  
  
"A flesh wound, Captain-it was barely a flesh wound.What?" he whined dismissively as they all continued to stare.  
  
Janeway shook her head and resumed the joyous task at hand.  
  
"So we are gathered here today with you, B'Elanna Torres, and you, Thomas Eugene Paris, in the sight of your Voyager family and in accordance with our laws and our many beliefs, that you may pledge-"  
  
The hiss of the doors stopped the Captain's progress yet again as Crewmen Mitchell and White entered with their arms around each other, Mitchell limping slightly. Tom kept his cool, but heard a tongue cluck beside him. He patted B'Elanna's waist.  
  
"State your emergency," the Doctor commanded acerbically, snatching up a scanner and setting to work. The interloping couple shifted their eyes nervously around the crowded sickbay.  
  
"We were helping Neelix move some of the empty cargo containers around so he could find his 'special-ingredients' one, to prepare for the post-race gala he's planning-sorry about your bad luck, Sirs," Mitchell offered as an aside.  
  
"And I let go of the one we were carrying too early and it scraped Martin's leg," Sharon grimaced guiltily. She, too, turned to the unusual sickbay grouping. "Are.are you both all right?" she inquired of Tom and B'Elanna, obviously trying to figure out what was happening that involved the entire senior staff.  
  
"Yes, yes, they're fine-and so are you, Crewman," the Doctor tossed his instrument carelessly on the nearest tray and took up a hypospray, pressing it to the tall man's arm. "No break, tear, or cut, and the small capillary damage will cause only the slightest of bruises. There-a mild analgesic for discomfort. In fact, take this with you for the night; standard six hour dosage."  
  
"Thanks, Doc. It does feel better," Mitchell experimented with a bounce on the leg in question. No one but the Doctor had moved from their places since he and Sharon came in, he noticed. It almost looked like the captain was presiding over some kind of-  
  
"Well, then, back to work," the Doctor took their arms and led them- unceremoniously, Mitchell thought-to the door. "Wouldn't want to delay Mr. Neelix's latest creations, now, would we?" he smiled thinly.  
  
"N-no, sir," the duo mumbled dubiously as they departed.  
  
Janeway turned back to begin again, drew in a breath-and paused, waiting. After a moment, Chakotay slapped his commbadge, propped his fists on his hips.  
  
"Computer, is there anyone in the corridors outside sickbay?"  
  
"Negative."  
  
"Anyone, anywhere, in the corridors on Deck 5, heading in this general direction?" his deep timbre clarified.  
  
"Negative, at this time." Voyager responded. Chakotay waved at the captain impatiently, who dove in with a nod of thanks.  
  
Janeway drew in her breath for the next step in the ceremony as she looked at the PADD.and stiffened, a surprised look settling around her open mouth. She glanced up at those assembled and shrugged in surrender.  
  
"Would anyone happen to have two rings on them?" she stage-whispered.  
  
The witnesses groaned or laughed, depending on personal compulsion, and the betrothed couple startled, open-mouthed. In the spontaneity of the event they had forgotten all about rings. Regret was evident as both sets of eyes met. Harry arrived to his friends' rescue, however, as he had done countless times in their seven years together as the Three Caballeros.  
  
"Forget about it," he waved dismissively. "This gives me time to make up something special for you both later-my gift to you. Besides," his warm eyes reassured them confidently, "it isn't like the whole ship can't see it on your faces, anyway." Chakotay put an affirming hand to Harry's shoulder, then raised his eyebrows to the couple as if to say, Well?  
  
"Thanks, Har," Tom assented, echoed by B'Elanna, who turned back to the waiting captain.  
  
"Well, let's keep this ball rolling before there's a red alert," the impatient Klingon groused with a grin.  
  
Janeway glanced at her PADD. "You both have the option of reciting your own vows. In light of the fact that we're winging this, I would be happy to say something sweet for both of you," she offered kindly.  
  
"No, Captain, actually.um, I do have something to say, if I may," B'Elanna stated nervously, wringing her hands lightly in a gesture that-from the normally imposing engineer-Janeway found charming.  
  
"You certainly may," the captain murmured, and waited.  
  
B'Elanna turned to the man she had spent the last seven years slowly falling in love with. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of him, his patient face expectant and excited. She mentally rolled her eyes, amused- would he ever grow up entirely, she wondered? She hoped not. His delight in the foolish, simple pleasures of life was infectious and it gave her permission to let her hair down, sometimes. And his pranks, on herself and others, kept her on her toes.  
  
"I have no secrets in this room," she began, hesitant but true, "Every one of you knows how.vulnerable I was when I joined this crew. I never thought I would find a decent friend among all you Starfleet, let alone a man who could teach me what a fulfilling journey real love could be, what an amazing experience. But you have done that, Tom. And I know very well that we've stumbled to this point of contentment together-you've certainly been as big an idiot along the way sometimes as I have." The others grinned politely, but B'Elanna only had eyes for the man before her.  
  
"I know," she continued in earnest," that I'm not the most.expressive.person around. That makes it all the more important to me that you hear me say that you complete me, Tom Paris. I'm a better person with you than I am without you; I'm alive when we're together-here," she tapped her fingers to her chest, twice, then reached out to echo the gesture on Tom, as if to connect their two hearts with that energy. She stepped into the touch, leaving her hand where it caressed his breast. "Seven years ago I hated who I wrongly thought you were. Now, I can't imagine a day without you," she finished, wiping the single tear that had slipped down her cheek.  
  
A rush of adrenaline at B'Elanna's words flung Kathryn out of the moment, her surprised gaze racing to Chakotay without her permission. But her embarrassment swiftly turned to relief when she realized that her confidant was staring right back at her, his expression a mirror of her surprise-an affirmation that he, too, had not forgotten, after all these years.  
  
There had been a lot of water under their bridge since she had spoken the very same words to her best friend. Yet despite all the intervening trials and distances they had faced, she had never forgotten the security of that moment, and had just received confirmation that neither had he.  
  
She thought 'the captain' would be disconcerted by the eerie turn of events. But she was pleased instead to find that 'Kathryn' actually found it comforting.  
  
With a guilty start Janeway turned her eyes now to Tom. Her expectant gaze eventually turned questioning as they all stood there in a growing silence. Because Tom stood stock-still, mute. He stared at B'Elanna, frozen in time, as only his eyes caressed randomly over her face.  
  
Peripherally, Janeway glanced nervously toward the witnesses and nearly burst with laughter at the sight. Chakotay and Harry-and even the Doctor!- had opened their mouths simultaneously as if to control the dumbstruck groom's actions through the magic of tele-puppetry.  
  
But their help wasn't required. The brash helmsman suddenly smiled-just at one corner of his mouth, at first, then spreading across his relaxed face. Kathryn felt privileged to witness the young man so open, so free with his feelings.  
  
Very carefully and deliberately, he pulled B'Elanna to his chest and sighed. Janeway noticed, when B'Elanna returned the hug, that the couple made for a perfect fit.  
  
"B'Elanna.B'Elanna, I love you. That's all I have to say," he finished succinctly.  
  
Harry smiled, but otherwise, no one moved. Not outwardly, in any event. In a special place in their hearts, the friends and colleagues were moved beyond words.  
  
Janeway craned her neck quickly to clear the lump that had formed there, and finished solemnly.  
  
2 "By the power vested in me as Cap-"  
  
The sickbay door swished open. Both B'Elanna and Tom growled in unison. Chakotay and the Doctor groaned softly. Harry chuckled and couldn't resist asking, "Can't you two do anything the easy way?"  
  
"Will I never see a complete wedding?!" the EMH cried out petulantly. "This is very annoying!"  
  
Janeway tapped the PADD to her forehead, warding off the ache that threatened to form.  
  
A head peeked tentatively around the threshold and Joe Carey stepped in.  
  
"This had better be a medical emergency," the Doctor grumbled. Carey politely paid him no mind.  
  
"I'm sorry for the interruption, Captain," the unassuming Carey nodded, "but I came to see the two lieutenants."  
  
"We're a little busy at the moment," B'Elanna rebuked diplomatically.  
  
"I know," Carey smiled. "Congratulations Chief, Tom," he shook their dumbfounded hands.  
  
"Wait a minute, now," B'Elanna shook her head as if to throw off her confusion. "Exactly how do you know what we're doing?"  
  
Carey shrugged deprecatingly. "The whole ship's buzzing with the news. Chapman told the Delaney sisters, who got the scoop from Jenkins about the mysterious comm messages after the race, who called Sue in engineering to see if we had heard anything from you just as Mitchell and White came down give us their pieces of the puzzle." As if the gossip chain weren't effective enough, Carey continued. "Then we heard that Neelix-"  
  
"Enough said," Tom announced, looking around the room at the amused faces and rueful shrugs.  
  
"Well, Mr. Carey, now that you're here you may as well join us and represent B'Elanna's side of the House. As you can see we're a little top heavy with Bridge guests," Janeway joked.  
  
"Thank you, Ma'am, but actually I am here on a mission." He addressed the nearly-married couple. "We had just tractored in the Flyer when we heard from Neelix, and we realized that you must have proposed to each other during the race. Maybe you've already replicated yourselves something quick and dirty for the ceremony, but."  
  
He opened his left fist to reveal two shiny golden bands nestled warmly in the palm. B'Elanna gasped, and reached out to finger them gently.  
  
"Great," Harry sighed with resignation in an aside to the Doctor. "Guess that leaves me with, what-the appliances?" Carey was speaking again.  
  
"We figured you might want something unique to remember your special day so we quickly melted down a few of the gold and titanium fragments that we swept up," the others grinned at Carey's cavalier delivery, "and formed them into bands."  
  
"Oh, Joe," B'Elanna spoke in awe, "these are.wonderfully thoughtful. You guys are wonderful," she extrapolated. She began to pick up the smaller of the two bands, only to be stopped by Tom's palm blanketing her fingers. She looked up into blue eyes, very close to hers, that smiled. Still holding her hand, he took the ring from her and began to slip it on her hand himself.  
  
"With this ring, I thee wed," he murmured slowly and solemnly, sending a shiver down her back. Her heart tumbled in her chest. She took the last band and did the same for her husband.  
  
"With this ring, I thee wed." The archaic wording sounded natural to her ears, like something ancient and sacred, and long-lived. She liked that. When she was done, she smiled back.  
  
"They fit great, Joe-how did you manage that?" Tom wondered.  
  
"Actually," Carey chuckled, "yours was a good guess, Tom. But for B'Elanna's we had an exact mold." The craggy man leaned forward, fingering a spot near the bridge of his nose. "See here? I've still got the knuckle prints from where she clocked me seven years ago," he finished with a laugh, ducking the half-hearted slap from the indignant Klingon.  
  
"Oh, get out of here," she huffed, but hugged him all the same while the others howled at her expense.  
  
"Did you see that, Captain-she's still at it!" he winked at his commanding officer.  
  
"Brig time will follow the honeymoon," Janeway promised happily. "If we ever finish the wedding, that is. Come on, people-shape up!" she commanded, schooling her face to restore order. "Next thing you know, we'll be overrun by the-I don't know.the Borg!" she fired offhandedly.  
  
"The Kazon-Nistrom," Chakotay offered. "The -Ogla."  
  
"Or the Vidiians," Harry tossed in. "Or the Akritiri."  
  
"Even worse-Captain Braxton!" Tom's suggestion elicited groans all around, effectively quieting them all as they stepped back into place-hopefully, for the final leg of Tom and B'Elanna's protracted trip down the aisle.  
  
Janeway cleared her throat to set the mood yet again. A calm descended on the room this time as if the others, too, could feel the change that was about to take place with the young couple who had come so far to stand there. Kathryn's gaze lingered on Chakotay, who gave her a quick wink and a nod to bring the moment home. She knew that he could almost hear her waxing nostalgically in her head then, and would tease her about her sentimentality later, in private.  
  
She drew a breath, taking them all in. This was it, she thought. Looking at each of them now, she couldn't imagine being anywhere else. She glanced toward the PADD in her hand but realized she didn't need it.  
  
"By the power vested in me as Captain of this vessel that we call our home.I now pronounce you Husband and Wife. Seal your vows with a kiss," Janeway could barely complete.  
  
Tom and B'Elanna turned to each other gleefully, hardly believing that with all the stops and starts they finally stood within the privileged sanctity of marriage. They leaned together-B'Elanna upward and Tom down-to eagerly join lips, savoring the first kiss of the rest of their lives as their friends and comrades applauded. They released each other with a final peck for punctuation.  
  
"Well.now what?" B'Elanna asked those present, only half-joking with her question. Weddings were not in her particular area of expertise.  
  
"Well, I should get back to Engineering," Carey kissed the bride on the cheek. "I don't think we're done down there with the surprises for you yet, if I'm not mistaken-don't worry, nothing tasteless or bawdy; I can tell you that much," he spread his hands out in supplication at his chief's expression.  
  
"Too bad," Harry lamented, much to the amusement of Chakotay, whom Kathryn backhanded lightly on the arm. The laughing groom caught the exchange and piped up.  
  
"Well, I'm not leaving here until I have a first dance-with my wife," Tom emphasized. "I've always wanted to say that," he added excitedly. "Computer, access Paris Jukebox," he addressed the ceiling.  
  
"If it's the theme song to Captain Proton, I will be seeking a divorce," B'Elanna laughed.  
  
"Hey you, not on your life!" Tom pulled her close, thinking. "We're going to write our own perfect song, every day we're together, so I won't try to top that. But I've got a decent one for right now anyway. Computer, play Paris Mirror 96."  
  
A soft but upbeat tempo began thrumming in the air. Tom held out his hands to his new bondmate. His lovely bride.  
  
Tentatively, she stepped into his gesture, gently meeting his one upheld hand with her own while they slid together, legs meeting hips, arms encircling waists, hands caressing with electric intensity down their backs, to rest gently but possessively on rounded bottoms. The final connection was made as their eyes found each other.  
  
The room, ship, and stars melted away, and their world narrowed down to one true thing. Themselves. And a mirror to each other, different yet the same, they slowly began to sway.  
  
Janeway felt her threatening tears spill at last as she watched them. A hand fell gently at her elbow, and she tore her eyes away with difficulty. She smiled unabashedly at the warm face beside her.  
  
"Shall we?" Chakotay grinned joyfully, holding up his free hand for her to take. As she did, she felt the thrill of surprise as he spun her once for happiness' sake before pulling her close and leading her with carefree abandon in a dance with the newlyweds.  
  
Harry leaned back contentedly onto the base of the biobed, arms crossed. He hadn't missed the Doctor's indecisive glances between him and the dancing couples so he was prepared, fortunately, when the hologram approached him with hope.  
  
"You know, I am programmed with the very latest-"  
  
"Don't eeeeeven think about it," Harry monotoned without taking his eyes off the dance floor, his ominous tone expressing the finality of his response. The Doctor lowered his gesticulating hand.  
  
"Huh!" he spoke half to himself, "I could.alter my parameters, you know- become a quite attractive female," he bragged, and was rewarded with a grimace. He silently slunk back to lean on the wall and fantasize-about executing perfect dance steps with a beautiful partner while his crewmates looked on in awe.  
  
Heartfelt, a long-dead singer began to croon, and B'Elanna smiled at the beginning sentiment of Paris' selection.  
  
I finally found someone who knocked me off my feet,  
  
3 I finally found the one who makes me feel complete.  
  
But the next stanza made her blink, then turn a suspicious smile onto her new husband's neck.  
  
We started over coffee; we started out as friends,  
  
It's funny how from simple things the best things begin.  
  
"We almost never drink coffee together. In fact," she whispered carefully, "there is only one serious coffee-drinking couple on this ship that immediately comes to my mind-what are you up to?" she demanded, punctuating her suspicions with a throaty giggle.  
  
Tom snapped his head guiltily toward the woman in his arms, pleasantly surprised to be caught scheming-and so quickly-by her. Normally, it would bother him to have been so transparent to anyone. But in this moment, with her finally by his side forever, it just felt good. Comforting. Connected. He relaxed back into her complete embrace, but not before she caught the blush that had risen to his ear tips.  
  
"Well," he drawled in her ear with a whisper, "let's just say.let's just say I have everything I want in my life right now and I feel like spreading the wealth around. If I couldn't have you forever-if this feeling was only something I could dream about, and share in stolen moments." his voice trailed off as his eyes trailed across the room. B'Elanna also looked at the couple completely comfortable in each other's embrace that this occasion, removed from protocol, had provided.  
  
His soft tone conveyed an empathy, a love that shook B'Elanna spiritually. When he raised his head those feelings were channeled into a gaze the intensity of which held her mesmerized. She couldn't wait to be alone with him, later. But for now, they danced.  
  
This is it!  
  
Oh, I finally found someone,  
  
someone to share my life.  
  
I finally found the one to be with every night  
  
'Cause whatever I do, it's just got to be you  
  
My life has just begun.  
  
I finally found someone  
  
  
  
=/\= =/\= =/\=  
  
Captain's Log, supplemental. The Antarians have invited us to participate in the post-race festivities. Which has allowed me to give two of my senior officers time off for a well-deserved romantic getaway. The Delta Flyer still needs a new warp core.but I don't think they're in a hurry to get anywhere.  
  
  
  
"To.the winners." The champagne glasses clinked merrily above the hum of the ship's propulsion.  
  
The stars barely crawled across the viewport, so slowly was their vessel moving. It was hypnotizing, and a welcome relief from the normal view of warped space that their frantic race toward home always provided. She leaned against the stocky chest so close behind her. The couple drank companionably, at ease in each other's close presence. The perfect end to a satisfying day.  
  
"'B'Elanna Paris'. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" the man teased.  
  
Kathryn rolled her eyes, inured to the bait her companion was dangling before her. "Listen, Mister, I know that you know perfectly well how I feel on this subject, from our discussions about my ancestor, Shannon O'Donnell Janeway. I'm not being sucked in." Chakotay grinned into her hair.  
  
"Besides," she bedeviled right back, "'Tom Torres' is catchier, and has the added benefit of sounding like one of those foolish holo-heroes our helmsman is so fond of." He placed his free hand on her shoulder in supplication.  
  
"I had a nice time today," Chakotay said with deep satisfaction. Kathryn always loved it when she could feel his deep sonorous tones vibrate from his chest into her leaning back. Like a rumble of thunder, she thought.  
  
"Me, too."  
  
"Nice ceremony." His tone told her he was not even remotely serious. Kathryn laughed heartily and shook her head.  
  
"This whole ship has waited so long for them to shit or get off the pot, it was almost anti-climatic. Still, I was surprised at the gamut of emotions I went through this afternoon; up, down, inside out."  
  
"Oh, Kathryn-you had so many emotions because you wore so many hats in there. Captain, friend. Justice of the Peace. Mother, in a way."  
  
"Of the bride or the groom?" she agreed, illustrating yet another intricacy in the dynamics of her place in Tom and B'Elanna's lives.  
  
"Mmmmm, groom. Then I get to be father of the bride," he claimed off-the- cuff in an obvious attempt to make her laugh again. "Look at it this way, Kathryn, you haven't lost a son, you've gained a daughter. And I get the vice versa."  
  
"You fool," she admonished. His sense of humor could be so strange sometimes, and she loved every minute of it.  
  
"Those two, those two!" she tossed a hand in exasperation. "Harry's right- they never do anything the normal way! If something can go off-kilter where they're concerned, it will. A to B to C-they just don't grasp the concept," she wound down from her amused rant.  
  
"But in the end, they always get to where they're going, where they belong," Chakotay observed.  
  
"Yes, I suppose they do."  
  
They stood at the viewport a few minutes more, polishing off the champagne and waiting for the Delta Flyer to sail off with the honeymooners. They were told that after its departure the real party would begin, though neither of them planned to attend. It had been some time since Voyager was this safe or had something this important to celebrate. They wanted the crew to feel totally free to let down their collective hair, uninhibited by a commanding presence.  
  
"So," Kathryn rolled the flute stem between her palms, "what are your plans for tonight? Review the Flyer damage reports? Finalize our trading needs with O'Zaal? Catch up on some reading?"  
  
Capitalizing on their present relaxed ease, Chakotay grabbed Kathryn's hips and pulled her back onto the couch with him, despite her indignant squawk. He wrapped his powerful arms about her to engulf her in a hug.  
  
"You know what I'm really thinking? I'm thinking we should stay together- for the sake of the 'children'."  
  
Kathryn closed her eyes and stifled her laughter, tipping her head back fully onto his shoulder. His hand came up gently to her forehead, to sweep back the hair there, making himself a space for his cheek to rest.  
  
"For the children, huh?" Kathryn hummed, seeming to consider his proposal.  
  
"Definitely."  
  
He raised his head to kiss her forehead softly, then lay his cheek back down over the spot. Eyes still closed, Kathryn sighed, content. Their heat soaked through their off-duty shifts, cocooning them both and the surrounding cushions in a somnolent blanket of warmth.  
  
Minutes later, though they heard the shuttlebay doors scrape open and smiled as the Flyer departed with its precious cargo, neither of them stirred to watch.  
  
  
  
=/\= end transmission =/\= 


End file.
